Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

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Product Description

Genre: Musicals
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-APR-2008
Media Type: DVD

Amazon.com
After years of rumors, it turns out that Tim Burton was the perfect visionary to film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Stephen Sondheim's Broadway masterpiece, and the result is a macabre and moving musical movie as enthralling as anything Burton has ever done. The show's mix of gothic horror, Grand Guignol, very dark humor, and witty and beautiful music never was the stuff of traditional musical comedy, but it's a powerful work, and perhaps the richest of the late 20th century. In the movie, Burton's frequent collaborator, Johnny Depp, plays Todd, a wronged man whose lust for revenge drives him to murder (an 19th-century legend who has been traced to a real-life barber). Helena Bonham Carter, another Burton mainstay, is Mrs. Lovett, the barber's partner-in-unspeakable-crime. It's no surprise that Depp is an excellent choice to convey Todd's brooding intensity and volcanic rage, but he can also sing a score that is so challenging it has often played in opera houses (though not with the same style as the Broadway original, Len Cariou, and he occasionally lapses into pop style). Bonham Carter is small of voice and lacks the humor of the original Broadway Lovett, Angela Lansbury, but she sings on pitch, in rhythm, and in character at the same time, which is no small feat for a Sondheim show. Aficionados will regret the loss of certain musical passages--"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" is just an instrumental overture and the chorus is gone altogether, among others--but the reassuring presence of orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and conductor Paul Gemignani ensures that the music feels right and sounds great. And the film's depiction of a Victorian London hellhole--with cinematography by Dariusz Wolski and costumes by Colleen Atwood--also looks and feels right.

The excellent cast is filled out by Alan Rickman as the villainous Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall as his seedy Beadle, Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) as a rival barber, Jamie Campbell Bower as the young lover Anthony, Jayne Wisener as his object of affection, and Ed Sanders as the young Toby. For fans of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp who don't think they like musicals, Sweeney Todd should be a revelation (though not for the squeamish, as the gore is intense and completely appropriate). For fans of Broadway and Sondheim, it's hard to imagine getting a better adaptation than this. The fact that there's no newly composed Oscar-bait song sung by a Josh Groban-type over the end credits only makes it better. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:   Read 315 more reviews...

Gorgeous - but disappointing storytelling   August 28, 2008
Steven Saus (Dayton, OH)
The desaturated Gothic graphics are stunning. Which they should be, since Tim Burton's been honing his ability to portray them for fifteen years. Perhaps he should try sepia tones instead of desaturation for his next film.

The performances were good - but there were two tragic flaws that kept this from being a good film. The first was the plotting. Although this is supposedly a story about Mr. Todd, his character is stagnant, an iconic force of revenge. All of his change has already taken place offstage. The most change he goes from is "Kill a few select people" to "kill everyone" - and that change happens in a most contrived and unsatisfying way. Helena Bonham Carter's character, however, does change - but her storyline, her conflicts are glossed over to provide more time for the supposedly "main" storyline. This would have been a much better story had it been told from her character's viewpoint, centering on her conflicts and internal struggles on what - and whom - to serve.

The second flaw is, unfortunately, the main trope of the story. The songs. With only two exceptions - both duets involving Helena Bonham Carter's character - the songs do little to advance the story or show character. They are set pieces that simply exist for thier own sake. This would be forgivable if they were memorable - but they're not. Every line - sung or not - must advance the plot or show character. Too many lines - both sung and not - are instead included simply to exist, and it shows.

In short, this film adaptation of the musical would have been a hundredfold better had it shed the music and used that time to instead explore the characters within it. Would it still be an adaptation of the musical? Perhaps not, but it would have been a lot better story.


Love The Movie But The DVD ....   August 28, 2008
Shoppers_Dream (Bronx, NY)
I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan & I had to replace my old copy of Sweeney Todd. So I purchased a new copy. In the description it said DVD was brand new & when I recieved the DVD it was in wrap but the DVD it self had scratches. When I played the DVD it skipped about three times. Thank God I have a DVD scratch cleaner if not I would have sent it back. Shipping was very fast also.


Not as good as the Broadway version   August 16, 2008
Loren (Indiana, USA)
I suspect that most reviewers who gave this movie five stars have not seen the other version of Sweeney Todd -- the version starring George Hearn and Angela Lansbury. Here:Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway) (Keepcase) or here: Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway) (Snap Case)

The movie sets are terrific, as is the instrumental music and the direction, but neither Johnny Depp nor Helena Bonham Carter can sing as well as Hearn or Lansbury. This is not to say that they are bad, but they just don't measure up to Broadway's demanding standards.

Although I was very much looking forward to getting a newer version of this grisly story, I will stick with my older DVD for the superior voices on it. This new one disappointed me.


My most favorite musical ever!   August 16, 2008
Lydia Atsma (Mt. Angel, OR USA)
I have seen the original many times and was intriuged with the choices of who was chosen for the roles. And I wasn't dissapointed!
Depp sings with and passion and has a gravel that gives him an edge and feeling that is hard to put a finger on. Carter had a sad and more desperate sound to her singing that Angela did.
In fact the whole musical movie was filmed with a more serious note than the original was acted.
I prefer Toby, Anthony, and Johanna in the movie a hundred times over the acted version. Anthony in the play had this stupid grin on his face almost the whole play. He is entirely stupid in the play. Toby also seems dumbed down in the play, and I actually like Burton cutting off the last minutes from the play, with Toby going mad. And Johanna in the movie seems more trapped than the Johanna in the play. In the play she feels clingy and shrill.
The only thing that I do prefer in the play to the movie is Hearn's singing. I said that Depp's performance it good- it is. But Hearn's deep voice is hypnotic and powerful. That is the one thing that Depp lacks.
All in all, this movie is a wonderful adaptation to the play, and I will watch it more than the original.


Johnny Depp is Awesome!!!!!   August 14, 2008
Joan Seneca
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Sweeney Todd is an excellent movie! Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors and he didn't disappoint in this movie. He is so believably frightening as the demon barber. Tim Burton once again gave us a classic!!!!